Sarah Lowry Ames and her husband, John S. Ames III, are retired and live in Boston. They used to own and operate Ten High Street, a seasonal fine art and antique gallery in mid-coast Maine. Before that, Sarah held various curatorial and administrative positions at the Farnsworth Art Museum, the University of Maine Museum of Art and Maine Coast Artists, now Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Her avocation, however, has long been the study of America in the 19th century.
When a cousin of her husband brought over a box of 19th century family diaries, she offered to transcribe them. That was around 2001, and since then Sarah has read, studied, prodded and in all other respects delved into the lives of the Ames family during the 19th century. The Ameses were both ordinary and extraordinary, representative and remarkable. The diary of Evelina Orville Gilmore Ames helps tell their story.
evelinaames 
Hi Sarah, I transcribed much of Evelina’s diary from the Stonehill microfilm several years ago and added some cross-references to old Oliver’s diary, but never did anything with it. I am looking forward to comparing notes here and finally getting to talk about them a little. Dwight
Dear Dwight,
Thank you for your interest. This will all be familiar to you, then.
Sarah
Hi, Dwight, it is good to see your name again. Austin, kouroo@kouroo.info
Hi Austin, Good to hear from you. Last I heard, Sarah was working on Governor Ames diary on the tree he planted nearby when he was young. I have the notes too, but have been distracted by other putterings.
As a genealogist and lover of history, I’m looking forward to reading more. I found your site while researching another question that you might be able to answer using your knowledge of the family diaries and lore. Which royal child marriage, if a real one, inspired John Ames Mitchell to paint “A Political Wedding” in 1880. My sister-in-law has a print of the etching he subsequently made of this work and we were curious about the subject. The attire of the man on the left would indicate that it’s an English royal wedding. The smug look on the face of the lady behind the young couple put me in mind of Isabella of France and the arrangements she made to marry her son, the future Edward III, to Philippa of Hainault, and manage a coup to depose her husband. This theory, however, pales, when the bride and groom look like they’re both younger than 12.
Kimberly, hello. I don’t have the answer to your question about John Ames Mitchell. What information there is in the family reocrds refers to Mitchell’s early career in architecture – he designed the family-funded Unitarian Church in 1875 – and/or to his financial status over the years. He occasionally asked certainly family members for financial support as he tried to keep his young magazine going. We have no information about his art or his writing. Wish we did!
Kimberly – do you have a photograph of the painting you reference “A Political Wedding”? Your description sounds like something my mother owns. Thanks! – Adrienne
Hello,We operate the Herald Square Hotel in NYC former Life Building as well as John Ames Mitchell home in Ridgefield CT,Would love any information that you may have on him.
Hello, Abraham. I’d be happy to share what little information I have about JAM’s childhood and his place in the Ames family. Will be in touch. Have you ever visited North Easton, Mass?
Sarah Ames, tibwin@gmail.com.
Hello Sarah! I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon your blog. We are restoring the Ames-Webster Mansion in Boston, and was wondering if you might have any insight through writings or otherwise to that time during which Frederick Lothrop Ames, son of Sarah and Oliver Ames, Jr. added to the mansion. He was such a prolific patron of the arts. Thank you!
Helene – Thanks for the inquiry about Fred Ames. Don’t have anything on hand at the moment, as we’re traveling. But I may be able to find something later in the spring. Good luck.
Please look at our website and call me so that i can give you one of Mitchell angel key chains HERALD SQUARE HOTEL
It has been too long since John and I communicated. Geralddballard@gmail.com
I’ll pass this along to John!
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for this interesting insight into our family history!
I enjoyed the read very much.
Keith Gilmore
-eighth child of Robert Gilmore (son of Wallace Gilmore (son of Edwin Jr.) and Anna Ames Gilmore).
Thank you, Keith.
In an 1877 letter written by Jonathan B. Sargent from the New Hampshire Insane Asylum to somebody at the Taunton Lunatic Hospital where he had formerly resided, Jonathan names Asa Mitchell (an inmate at Taunton) as one of his friends. (Letter is owned by the New Hampshire Historical Society.) – Also interesting is the fact that Oliver Ames was one of the trustees of the Taunton Lunatic Hospital
Louis Lehmann louislehmann24@gmail.com
Thank you for this information. We knew that Oliver Ames (Jr.) was a trustee (and later, his nephew Oakes Angier Ames was also possibly a trustee) and that the family made payments to the hospital – presumably because Asa Mitchell was there – but we have no information about the nature of AM’s incarceration or diagnosis. Family lore has assumed that AM became senile. At some point I’d be interested to learn about Jonathan B. Sargent. Again, thank you! Sarah Lowry Ames, Boston
Hi Sarah,
I wish to discuss with you two Ames portraits attributed to Francis D. Millet. I am providing my email address.
Greetings, Mike. I would be happy to discuss the Ames portraits you mention, though my knowledge is quite limited. My email address is tibwin@gmail.com.
Thank you for your interest.
Sarah Ames
Shema
Pews, you see, cannot be
Escaped from. They splinter in your scalp
They elongate as your time retracts.
They resonate with hymns and prayers and
Strangle you with recollection: The propagation
Of hope and lie like oaken planks of scripture
Pews, you see, cannot be
Escaped from.
hi sarah, i’ll be in boston on wednesday and thrudays sept 6 and 7th
hope life has been kind to you and yours.
love and luck mitchell
Spent a childhood in the pews, two or three times a week. Splinters in the scalp is a bit harsh, but then poetry needs to get our attention. Praise the Lord and pass the…whatever.
Dwight
Nice to hear from you, Dwight! Hope all is well your way.
Hi Sarah, Things are going well, thank you. We have been exploring and researching four cellar holes and a family cemetery in the woods in Avon, where several African American families lived 1780-1880. We also discovered some information and artifacts re: the first railroad line to Easton. The one in 1855 was along a slightly different railroad bed. There are places where the old, smaller bed is apart from the new one and still distinctly visible. We have also found a couple of the older tracks, which are smaller. They rebuilt the line in 1865, straightening, widening, and putting in larger rails either then, or some time not long after. We have also found signs of the old road between Stoughton and North Easton. It is the road Old Oliver would have taken to get to Stoughton when he first came to Town. Not long after that, though, the Turnpike was built, which is basically the current Rt 138.
Dwight
Hello Evelina my name is Justin I own the josiah keith home in easton. And on my kitchen hearth is a signature with the name abigail williams. I was wondering if you had anything on her time in this home? If you could call me some time I will send you my phone number.
Dear Justin,
Thank you for your inquiry. I don’t have any information about Abigail Williams, but if I run across anything I will let you know. Meanwhile, you might ask someone at the Easton Historical Society. Good luck with your search!
Sarah Ames